RESPECTFUL DISTANCE / Five Smooth Stones

April 13, 2020

Here we are.  We is the nominative idea and hopefully, 'we' will move forward to something new.  Bernie Sanders says he's now for Joe Biden. Earlier today, Joe appeared on ABC's The View and sounded like a human being.  Direct. No bluster. Human. 

Choosing this image of David is just to remind us that the good guys can win, even in the face of difficult odds. If you don't know the story of David and Goliath, that's okay. Suffice it to say that it applies to what's happening today and it seems to me that winning is what will happen. This photo is from a few years ago at Forest Lawn Glendale. I took it.

The idea of our basic humanity is what's on my mind today.  How to remain human. How to get back to the essence of ourselves.  Humanity is on the line.

To this end, the following idea was first proposed by the son of my dearest friend.  He suggested that we must become Socially Connected..not socially distanced. 

  

We've been schooled to use the term "Social Distancing," which is NOT what we need now.  What we need is Social Engagement: phone calls, snail mail, even texts and email that engage us.. 

I've proposed that we adopt the term "Respectful Distance" with a non-gesture of standing still instead of throwing up 'THE HAND.'  There are all kinds of physical movements that are insulting or rude, The Hand is, to me, one of them.   The last thing we need right this minute is rudeness. Respect is the answer.

Let's be Respectful at a distance and stop rejecting one another with a rude gesture.

 

Let's call what we are doing "Respectful Distancing." Say it or write it a couple of times. Can a semantic shift help us? What's in a name?

We Americans are.. mostly..  a social society.  When we Embrace one another... respectfully distant for the time being; with Love, this trial by loneliness must be, we hope, a little more bearable.  

Call a friend. Send a snail mail. Reach out.  

Michael Sheehan

Glendale, California

4/13/2020  How many days until Sharon Doubiago's birthday? Thirteen! Let's hear it for Taurus!